Method of manufacturing and repairing roofs of railway wagons and similar vehicles



Oct. 21, 1952 J. CARANDELL MARIMON 2,614,509

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AND REPAIRING ROOFS OF RAILWAY WAGONS AND SIMILAR VEHICLES Filed Feb. 18, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Jilan camna el/ Mar/man 1952 J. CARANDELL MARIMON 2,614,509 METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AND REPAIRING ROOFS OF RAILWAY WAGONS AND SIMILAR VEHICLES Filed Feb. 18, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 QINVENTQR. Ifuan fiara 00e// Mar/mo);

Oct. 21, 1952 J. CARANDELL MARIMON 2,614,509

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AND REPAIRING ROOFS OF RAILWAY WAGONS AND SIMILAR VEHICLES Filed Feb. 18, 1948 :s Sheets-Sheet a IN VEN TOR.

O W M M n m PM m f MW m 6 Patented Oct. 21, 1952 METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AND RE- PAIR-I'NG ROOF-S OF RAILWAY 'WAGONS SIMILAR VEHICLES Juan carandell Marimn, BarcelonaQSpain, as-

.Signor.toil rancisco Batalla. Faidella, Barcelona,

,"Spa n App1ication:l33ebruary 18, 1948, Serial No. 9,218

In Great Britain Dumber-26,. 1945,

*sectionlfPublic. Law 690, August 8,1946 'Patentexpires ctober26, 1965' 1-6-1Glai ns'. (01405-317) This -invention relates to railway-wagons .or similar vehicles. 1 The roof-frame-of awagon constitutes-cameotangle which during service undergoes a constant deformation due tothe inevitable movements set up in the chassis and thebody.

*ThisTectan'gle in practice must be regardedtas articulated, and'owing to said deformation-the greater sides of the said rectangle are displaced, one with respect to the-other, in: parallel :directions, while-its shorter ends-.llose their straightness'and-follow the curvature of its arch inzthe curved roofs "or the angle of 1 its ridge piece in the caseof-sIOping-roQfs. q

The right angles at the 'fouracorners lbecome alternately acute andlobtuse. Whilst theframe of the roof is mobile, its surface is also mobile.

The long sections "of .which .it ismade become displaced relatively to: each. other, the movement being longer in the centre of the roof than at thelongitudinal sides in cases where thelend walls are inclined. The lateral walls of the wagon move iniopposite directions in the case .of the chassis warping whilst the ridge piece remains stable and the end walls initiate a rotary movement about their axis of symmetry, i

I In rdertorender this somewhat unstable sur facesimpervious ,to water, recourse has hitherto been had .toimpregnate'd canvas which in view ofsitsv relative elasticity. is able. for a certain time torresist. the, deformation .andstresses to which it is "likewise. subjected owing to 'its' being rigidly connected tothe. roo'fi frame ionlits IfOIlr'Sides.

"The use of a more suitable and 'durable'materialfsuchasffor example, sheet metal, was not 'possibleif'it were rigidly secured'tothe roof, since its rigidityleads 'tothe' holding-"down bolts'being torn "out or, if the latter are sufiiciently strong,

the sh'eet itself'becomes cracked.

The-present invent'on entirely "eliminates the transmission of all the' destructive rnovementsin the roof and is based on the formerlyset forth fact'owing to which the longitudinal center-line .of the roof,--materialized by the ridge piece retheory of maintaining the roof L of thewva-gon absolutely independent with respect to thefbody and vice versa, for. that purpose "theszroof being assembled wholly and solely .on .points-ilocated therein, preferably two, oneateach of the .:end walls of the wagon. v 4

These mounting points are not rigid .but -are designed to absorb the movements of 5the.-;'roof; the body or frame and alsothe movements setup in the roof plates under the effects of temperature changes. 7 r

For theabove purposes' the mounting :points'in question are provided with-vertical aridhorizontal spindles which maintain the roof rigidly sin position relatively to the frame, thus enabling the end walls :to initiate-the movement of rotation about their vertical :axis vor to incline towards either side without any of the saidmo vemen'ts being transmitted to the: roof or setting up tension or stresses therein.

In order to prevent temperature changes damaging the roof sheetsand: at the sametime Jfacilitate their assembly, one of the said centralsupports is adapted to-slide'in the direction of'the middle line of the roof. This sliding support must bemounted at the opposite end' of the wagon away from the brakemans cab in "thosexwagons provided with'the latter. I

In these conditions, the characteristic feature of thesheet metal roof. is thatits length must-be greater-than the length of 'the wagon=and ex tend sufficiently beyond theen'd walls to; permit corresponding movements-of the deformed .rectangle-without leaving the latteruncovered.

Throughout the remainder .of its surface, the sheet metalroof is'simply supported by-the surface of the wagon but'without beingsecuredto the latter. To-avoid the wind carrying away the roof or rainwater entering beneath the-latter, the lateral strips ofthe sheet or sheets are appropriately flanged in such a manner that any lifting effect is counteracted by the-engagement 'of a turned-back part againsttheback'of the wagon. The same'result can likewise be achieved by distributing, in the lateral edges, 'the lateral sup*- ports o f'a shape designed to 'facilitate:displacement, bymeans of sheetmetals providedwith swivels, grooves or other analogous arragnements provided they facilitate the longitudinal displace ment of the edge of the housing.

To enable the invention'to bemore readilyunderstood' the invention willnow bedescribed with reference to the accompanying'drawings,"which illustrate-byway of example, 'a' number were 'bodimentsof-the invention. T

Fig. 1A is a plan view of a conventional vehicle with conventional attached roof in the position of repose;

Fig. 1Bis an elevational view of the embodiment of Fig. 1A;

Fig. 1C is a front elevational view of the embodiment of Fig. 1A;

Fig. 2A is a plan view of a conventional vehicle with conventional attached roof in which the body is subjected to torsion;

Fig. 2B is an elevational Fig. 2A;

Fig. 2C is a front elevational view corresponding to Fig. 2A;

Fig. 3A is a plan view of a conventional vehicle walls have become inclined along the longitudinal axis of the wagon;

sides in the fact that in one case the pivot is of sufiicient length to enable it to slide axially in the strap and therefore permits the expansion of the sheet and facilitates assemblage without the need of any prior adjustment of the interconnected 1 members, Whilst in second case the pivot is short viewcorresponding to .7 with conventional attached roof in which the end Fig. 3B is an elevational view corresponding to Fig. 3A;

Fig. 3C is a front elevational view corresponding to Fig. 3A;

Fig. 4A is a partial sectional elevational view of a roof suspension;

.Fig. 4B is a partial plan view of a portion of Fig. 4A;

Fig. 4C is a sectional view taken on line E-F of Fig. 4A; 7

Fig. 4D isa view similar to Fig. 4A taken'on the opposite end ;1

Fig. 5A is an elevational view partly in section of a modification of the roof suspension;

Fig. 5B is a plan view of Fig. 5A partly in section;

Fig. 6A is a perspective view of a modification of the support for the ridge piece of the roof;

Fig. 6B is an exploded view of a further modification;

Fig. 7 is a partial elevational view of the lateral parts of the roof sheeting;

Fig. 8A is a partial view of an embodiment of an arrangement for'the lateral parts of the roof sheeting partly in section;

Fig. 8B is an elevational view of the sheet of view Fig. 8A with attaching means therefor; and

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view of the upper frame of the wagon showing the roof sheeting.

The invention consists in mounting the roof 1 of the wagon V on supporting points 2, 3 (Figs. 1 to 6 A and B respectively) these points 2 and 3 being located on the longitudinal centre line of the wagon and at the end walls of the wagon.

By means of this assemblysystem the roof of the wagon is completely independent of the movements of the body although it is mechanically connected thereto in a'hinged manner, at said points 2 and 3 In this'way the roof of the wagon does not become deformed, since it is not affectedv in which a pivot 5 is mounted having a free rotary,

movement and under the head of which is loosely fitted a hinge plate 6 'pivoted on a spindle I mounted on the head of a bolt 8 carried by a strap 9 welded tothe lower part of the ridge piece l0.

- At the other end of theridge piece a somewhat similar method of mounting is shown at Fig. 4D,

but the difference between the two supports're- I in order to secure the position of the ridge piece.

It will therefore be seen that with this method of securing the roof there are two fundamental axes: one vertical 5 and another horizontal I, both parallel'to the end walls of the wagon.

In Fig. 4C is represented a cross section taken on the plane E-F'of Fig. 4A which shows the arrangement'of the strap 9 below the ridge piece l0.

. In the non-displaceable end the pivot is given the-length necessary to enable it to be secured by the nut T against the face of the strap.

A modified embodiment of this assembly is shown in Fig. 5A, in which, against the side of the angle 4' there is located one of the plates of a hinge, the other plate I I being provided with a circular aperture Ila or a slotted aperture H, according to the end at which it acts, surrounding a pivot l2 located at each end of the ridge piece. This pivot thus constitutes the vertical axis of rotation, whilst the pin of the hinge constitutes the horizontal axis,both parallel -to the corresponding end wall. A 1 x I Another modified embodiment of the support for the roof ridge piece is shown in Fig. 6A, in which a pivot I3 is provided ateach end and has a number of lugs for the horizontal axis of rotation of the head of a bolt I4 fitting into the strap l0 located below the ridge piecejlfl or connected to the end wall as indicated in Fig. 6B

at 10. i

In the embodiments illustratedin Figures 4A to 6B, the sliding part of one of the said supports may be simply housed in the strap 9 and be guided by the latter during its displacement or may be provided with'compensating springs M and M which take up the'stresses-to which the bolt fixed at the other end is' subjected.

The roof sheet is arranged as shown in cross section in Figure 9, in which it will beseen that the sheet I5 is supported on both sides of the inverted T of the ridge piece I0 and is superimposed by the longitudinal coping member 16. N

The sides of this sheet are bent over against the extreme sections which compose the longi; tudinal edges of the roof, the bent part being located below the latter, and angles [60. fixed to the upper edges of the lateral walls of the wagon, in order to prevent them being lifted by the wind. These bent over flanges l'lareshown in Figure 7-.

In Figs. 8A and 8B the flangeshave been replaced by sheets l8 placed at intervals and provided with a slotted slideway l9 to permit the longitudinal displacements of the'body of the wagon on the bolts 20.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of "my .said invention and in what manner the same is to'be performed, I'de-r clare that what I claim is: Y

1. In a railway wagon and the like, a rigid roof for said wagon, securing means for said rigid roof, said securing means being attached tothe end walls of said wagon along'the longitudinal middle line of said wagon, said-rigid roof being solely and exclusively secured to said wagon by said securing means. '7 2. In a railway wagon and the like as claimed inclaim 1, said securing means for saidrigidiroof comprising a hinge joint at each end of said'rigid roof, each hinge joint having one flap pivotally mounted on a vertical axis secured to the end wall of the frame of said wagon, a horizontal axis disposed laterally of the wagon at the free end of said flap, a second cylindrical flap in said hinge joint being articulated on said horizontal axis and disposed longitudinally to the wagon and having suflicient length to allow relative longitudinal movement of the wagon and rigid roof, a ridge piece along the longitudinal middle line of the frame of said wagon for supporting said rigid roof, a strap on said ridge piece extending downwardly into said wagon and having an opening therethrough slidably and rotatably engaging said cylindrical flap in said hinge joint.

3. In a railway wagon and the like as claimed in claim 2, and spring means interposed between said hinged securing means and said strap and between said strap and the end of said cylindrical flap for absorbing stress to which said flap is subjected.

4. In a railway wagon and the like; as claimed in claim 3, means secured to the lateral edges of said rigid roof for preventing lifting thereof but allowing free movement of the frame longitudinally of the wagon and having extreme portions bent downwardly, the said bent portions extending under the lateral edges of said rigid roof.

5. In a railway wagon and the like, as claimed in claim 4, and including sheets fixed to the edge of the rOOf at regular intervals, slotted slideways in said sheets having sumcient length to allow the relative movement of the lateral walls of the wagon, screws secured to the upper edges of said lateral walls in a position opposed to said sheets and ends of said screws co-operating with the said slotted slideways. v

6. In a railway wagon or the like as claimed in claim 1, said securing means for said rigid roof comprising a hinge joint at each end of said rigid roof, one of those hinge joints having one flap pivotally monuted on a vertical axis secured to the opposite end wall of the frame of said wagon, a horizontal axis disposed laterally of the wagon at the free end of said flap, a second cylindrical flap in said hinge joint being articulated on said horizontallaxis' and disposed longitudinally to the wagon, a ridge piece along the horizontal middle line af the frameof the said wagon for supporting said rigid roof, a strap on said ridge piece extending downwardly into said wagon and having an opening therethrough rotatably engaging said cylindrical flap in said hinge joint.

JUAN CARANDEIL MARIMON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 3 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 'Date 1,160,835 Brown Nov. 16, 1915 1,243,979 Roberts Oct. 23, 1917 1,252,259

Geiger Jan. 1, 1918 

